Breast clothing

ABSTRACT

An article of clothing ( 10 ) for use in covering and/or supporting a woman&#39;s breast comprising a hollow cup shaped body ( 11 ) formed of a lightweight flexible material and having a substantially smooth outer surface ( 13 ) and an inner hollow chamber ( 15 ) for receipt of the breast of a wearer. Articles of clothing ( 10 ) are worn in conjunction with an article of outer clothing such as a top, dress, or sweater which assists in maintaining the articles of clothing ( 10 ) in position covering the breasts.

This application is based on PCT application PCT/AU2004/000-0454.

This invention relates to articles of clothing and in particular toarticles of clothing for use in covering and/or supporting women'sbreasts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many different forms of brassieres are available for supporting andcovering a woman's breasts. Often the known brassieres are uncomfortableto the wearer or are not suitable for use with certain types of outergarments. This is particularly the case where the outer garments arestrapless or have a low-cut neckline. In such circumstances, women tohave sufficient support to their breasts often wear straplessbrassieres. This form of breast support however can place considerablestrain on the back of the wearer.

In some cases adhesive tapes are used either in place of brassieres orin conjunction with brassieres to hold the breast in position howevertapes can be difficult to accurately apply to provide sufficient supportto the breasts. In addition, tapes can cause skin irritation. Somebreast supports or brassieres also incorporate an adhesive to enablethem to be secured in position to the body. Again the adhesive used inthese brassieres can cause irritation to the skin of the wearer andfurthermore, such supports or brassieres have a limited life because theadhesive loses effectiveness after a relatively small number of uses.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims to provide articles of clothing for use incovering and/or supporting the breasts which overcomes or at leastalleviates one or more of the disadvantages of known brassieres orbreast supports. In particular, the present invention aims to providebreast clothing which is comfortable to wear, which is of a relativelylight weight construction and which is capable of being used with abroad range of different types of exterior clothing. Other objects andadvantage of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription.

The present invention thus provides an article of clothing for use incovering and/or supporting a woman's breast, said article of clothingcomprising a hollow cup shaped body, said body being formed of alightweight flexible material and having a substantially smooth outersurface and an inner hollow chamber for receipt of the breast of awearer, said body being configured such as to maintain coverage of thewearer's breasts without means for attachment to the wearer.

Preferably the cup shaped body is of substantially domed shapeconfiguration and is symmetrical about an axis extending centrallythrough the body from the trailing end to the leading end. Mostpreferably the body is of a substantially part-spherical externalconfiguration such that in cross-section in a direction normal to acentral axis through the body, the body has an external circular form.Preferably also the hollow chamber is of a substantially hollowpart-spherical internal configuration.

Preferably, the cup shaped body has a leading end and a trailing end atwhich an opening into the inner hollow chamber is formed. Preferably,the cup-shaped body is formed by a wall which at the trailing end of thebody is tapered in thickness. This provides a substantially smoothtransition to the skin of the wearer in the region on or around thebreast. Most preferably the wall at the trailing end of the body tapersinto a thin peripheral web which surrounds the opening.

The trailing end of the cup shaped body in cross section is suitably ofa substantially annular form being of an externally circularconfiguration except at its extreme end where the wall of the bodytapers to the thin peripheral web encircling the opening into the hollowchamber. The web is thus adapted for contact and juxtaposition with theskin of the wearer on or around the breast.

In use a pair of breast covering articles are provided for each breastof a wearer so that the breasts are covered and/or supported when wornunder articles of outer clothing. The breast covering articles remain inposition covering and/or supporting the breasts without the use ofattachment means such as adhesive tape, straps or ties. The breastcovering articles may be worn with any type of outer clothing such astops including knitted tops, singlet tops and halter tops, sweaters, anddresses. Preferably, the lightweight material from which the articlesare formed comprises a foam plastics material. The foam plasticsmaterial most preferably comprises polyurethane.

The present invention in a further aspect provides in combination anarticle of breast clothing for use in covering and/or supporting awoman's breast and an outer garment, said article of breast clothingcomprising a hollow cup shaped body, said body being formed of alightweight flexible material and having a substantially smooth outersurface and an inner hollow chamber for receipt of said breast, saidbody being configured such as to maintain coverage of said breast andsaid outer garment maintaining said article of breast clothing inposition at least partially accommodating and covering said breast.

The present invention in yet a further aspect provides a method ofproviding covering and/or support to the breasts of a woman, the methodcomprising the steps of providing a pair of breast covering articles,each said article comprising a hollow cup shaped body, said body beingformed of a lightweight flexible material and having a substantiallysmooth outer surface and an inner hollow chamber, locating said breastcovering articles in position relative to said breasts such thatrespective said breasts are received within a hollow chamber of arespective said article, and providing an outer garment over said breastcovering articles to maintain said articles in position at leastpartially 20 accommodating and covering said breasts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put intopractical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention andwherein;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the rear of an article of breastclothing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the article of breast clothing of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the article of breast clothing along lineA-A of FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrates schematically in front and side views themanner in which articles of breast clothing may be worn.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings and firstly to FIGS. 1 to 4, there isillustrated an article of breast clothing 10 according to an embodimentof the invention, the clothing article 10 comprising a hollowdome-shaped body 11 which in this embodiment is of a generallypart-spherical form defined by a wall 12 having an outer convex surface13 and an inner concave surface 14, the inner concave surface 14defining the boundary of an inner hollow breast receiving chamber 15,The body 11 is symmetrical about a central axis X-X through the body 11with the chamber 15 being of a hollow generally part-spherical form andcentered on the axis X-X.

The body 11 has a leading end 16 and a trailing end 17 at which theentrance into the chamber 15 is formed, the trailing end 17 of the bodynormally contacting the skin of the wearer in the region around thebreast or contacting the skin of the chest cavity around the base of thebreast. The wall 12 of the body 11 which defines the inner and outersurfaces 13 and 14 tapers at least adjacent the trailing end 17 into athin web 18 encircling the chamber 15 which when contacting the wearer'sskin defines a smooth transition from the body 11 to the wearer's skin.The web 18 as illustrated flares radially outwardly from the outersurface 13 so that it may be juxtaposed with and sit on the wearer'sskin on or around the breast. The web 18 also assists in maintaining thearticle of clothing to the wearer's body without additional fasteningssuch as adhesive tapes. The wall 12 may also taper from a maximumthickness at the leading end 16 of the body towards the trailing end 17.

Typically the wall 16 at the leading end 16 has a thickness of 8 mmwhilst the webs 18 have a thickness of 1 mm or less.

The outer and inner surfaces 13 and 14 preferably are of a relativelysmooth finish with the outer surface 13 providing a smooth appearancewhen the article 10 is worn and the inner surface providing comfort tothe user.

The article of breast clothing 10 is preferably formed of a lightweightplastics material such as a foam plastics material. The preferred methodof manufacture is by means of moulding to the desired shape asdescribed. The article of breast clothing 10 may be provided in varioussizes such as small, medium, large and extra large. The small sizetypically has a maximum diameter of 11 cm and a depth of 4.0 cm, themedium size a diameter of 12 cm and a depth of 4.05 cm, the large size adiameter of 13 cm and a depth of 5.0 cm and the extra large size adiameter of 15 cm and a depth of 6.0 cm, the depth being measured fromthe leading end 16 to the trailing end 15. Thus typically, the articlesof breast clothing 10 have a maximum diameter of between 11 and 15 cmand a depth of between 4 and 6 cm. The above dimensions however may beconsiderably varied, Further whilst it is preferred that the body 11 beof a substantially part-spherical shape, it may be in other hollowshapes for example of broad elliptical shape in plan view.

In use and as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a wearer 19 desiring to wear thearticles of breast clothing 10 applies respective articles 10 to eachbreast 20 with each breast 20 being received and accommodated in achamber 15 of a respective article 10. In addition, the size of thearticles 10 is selected so that preferably the thin webs 18 contact theskin of the wearer surrounding the breasts 20. In other situationshowever, the web 18 may be spaced away from the chest cavity. An outergarment 21 such as a top, sweater or dress may then be put on by thewearer and the articles 10 because of their construction and form willbe held in place by the outer garment 21 to cover and provide at leastsome support to the breasts 20. Alternatively, the wearer 19 caninitially don the outer garment 21 and then position the articles 10beneath the outer garment 21 and locate them over the breasts 20 so thatwhen released they are held in position by the outer garment 21.

The outer garment 21 in the illustrated embodiment is in the form of aT-shirt however it may be any form of outer garment including astrapless outer-garment or a garment without sleeves. Usually however,the articles 10 are best worn under a relatively closely fitting outergarment.

It has been found that the breast clothing articles 10 of the inventionprovide considerable comfort and support to the user whilst being worn.The articles stay in position without the use of adhesive tape or anyother retention devices other than clothing which may be worn over thearticles 10. In addition, the articles 10 provide a smooth externalappearance covering the nipples to provide a desired level of modesty tothe wearer.

The terms “comprising” or “comprise” or derivatives thereof as usedthroughout the specification and claims are taken to specify thepresence of the stated features, integers and components referred to butnot preclude the presence or addition of one or more other feature/s,integer/s, component/s or group thereof.

Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative embodiment of theinvention, all such variations and modifications thereto as would beapparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within thebroad scope and ambit of the invention as herein defined in the appendedclaims.

1. An article of clothing for use in covering and/or supporting awoman's breast, said article of clothing comprising a hollow cup shapedbody, said body being formed of a lightweight flexible material andhaving a substantially smooth outer surface and an inner hollow chamberfor receipt of the breast of a wearer, said body being configured suchas to maintain coverage of the wearer's breasts without means forattachment to the wearer.
 2. The article of clothing of claim 1 whereinsaid cup shaped body has a leading end and a trailing end and wherein anopening into the inner hollow chamber is defined at said trailing end.3. The article of clothing of claim 2 wherein said cup shaped body isformed by a wall and wherein said wall at least at said trailing end istapered to provide a substantially smooth transition between the bodyand the skin of the wearer.
 4. The article of clothing of claim 3wherein wall at said trailing end tapers into a thin web around theopening.
 5. The article of clothing according to anyone of the precedingclaims wherein said body is of substantially domed shape configuration.6. The article of clothing according to claim 5 wherein said body issymmetrical about a central axis through said body extending from theleading end to the trailing end.
 7. The article of clothing of claim 6wherein said body in cross-section in a direction normal to a centralaxis through the body has an external circular form.
 8. The article ofclothing of claim 7 wherein said body is of an external substantiallypart-spherical configuration.
 9. The article of clothing of claim 1wherein said hollow chamber is of hollow substantially part-sphericalinternal configuration.
 10. The article of clothing of claim 1 whereinsaid lightweight material comprises a foam plastics material.
 11. Thearticle of clothing of claim 10 wherein said foam plastics materialcomprises polyurethane.
 12. In combination an article of breast clothingfor use in covering and/or supporting a woman's breast and an outergarment, said article of breast clothing comprising a hollow cup shapedbody, said body being formed of a lightweight flexible material andhaving a substantially smooth outer surface and an inner hollow chamberfor receipt of said breast, said body being configured such as tomaintain coverage of said breast and said outer garment maintaining saidarticle of breast clothing in position at least partially accommodatingand covering said breast.
 13. A method of providing covering and/orsupport to the breasts of a woman, the method comprising the steps ofproviding a pair of breast covering articles, each said articlecomprising a hollow cup shaped body, said body being formed of alightweight flexible material and having a substantially smooth outersurface and an inner hollow chamber, locating said breast coveringarticles in position relative to said breasts such that respective saidbreasts are received within a hollow chamber of a respective saidarticle, and providing an outer garment over said breast coveringarticles to maintain said articles in position at least partiallyaccommodating and covering said breasts.